Endless Hybrids

Category: Thoughts

  • How Mad Men changes the way I look at the 1980s & 1990s (yes, the ’80s & ’90s)

    While living in Argentina for eight years I missed out on a lot of American TV shows. Foremost among those is Mad Men. A couple years ago I was able to catch a bit of an episode from season three. After a few minutes I stopped watching. I liked the show but I realized this […]

  • Starting to read (again) Gramophone, Film, Typewriter

    Of all the books I’ve read in the last few years Gramophone, Film, Typewriter has stayed in my mind the most. In my notes I find the date 4-12-11 as my first reading. The book’s author Friedrich Kittler was still living then. I was living on the coast of Argentina, which seemed much longer than […]

  • A journey back to the world I know

    Most of my adult life has been spent working in academic libraries. In 2005 I took a different path and moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina where I lived the expat life while writing and starting a design studio with my wife. It was a fun eight years. I loved exploring the city of Buenos Aires […]

  • 100 tips for a library technology manager

    First posted in 2006 during the first incarnation of this blog. Thought it was time for a re-post.ย  A librarian I once supervised is now heading the systems and digital services department at a mid-size academic library. I’ve recently been e-mailing him some suggestions and things to keep in mind for managing technology in an […]

  • Lynda.com as the future of TV

    Remember that the word TV is used in many ways. This is about how we use TVs: we watch TV & quite often we watch informative, learning channels. Lynda.com is a subscription-based site providing software training through video tutorials structured in courses that are mostly several hours in length. I’ve used the site off-and-on for […]

  • Why not tee shirts?

    In any talk of books some person in the audience will rise and shout, โ€œNo! Youโ€™re all wrong. Books are this…โ€ and then proceed to argue for one approach that must encompass all. With a discussion of digital books the argument usually is that all text must be reflowable and that fixed layout is an […]

  • Understanding the possibilities: a key for strategic positioning

    Ten years ago I wrote an article titled Understanding the Possibilities: A Key for Strategic Visioning. (The article is behind an expensive paywall if you’re not in academia, but if you’re really interested contact me and I’ll send you the text.) 2002 represented the ten-year mark in my career. I’m now at the twenty-year mark […]

  • The years ahead: 2013 – 2030

    Tomorrow, on the second day of the year, my daughter turns two. Like most parents my life is consumed by caring for her, preparing her for life, & thinking of her future. I’m fascinated by the type of world she’s going to encounter, the aspects that won’t change very much, and those that will shift […]

  • The photos we keep

    I received an urgent message from my sister on the morning of November 2. I called her immediately and learned that our mother had died from a sudden heart attack. During the next few nights and after the funeral I stayed alone in my mother’s apartment sorting through the accumulation of materials that are left […]

  • Boredom is a criss

    Why do so many people use [insert name of favorite local discovery app]? People are looking for things to do. Yet, (I almost said, “Yelp”), these local discovery apps are like the Yellow Pages. Since when did browsing the phone directory become a fun thing to do? Does a small dash of social networking and […]